Toronto Housing Market Rockets Forward
The Toronto area's real estate industry says it set a new August record for home sales and a 17.2 per cent increase in the average sale price.
The Toronto Real Estate Board says its members had 9,813 sales last month.
That was 23.5 per cent more than in August 2015 -- although last month's volume was assisted by two additional working days.
Even adjusting for an equal number of days, last month's sales volume in the Greater Toronto Area was up about 13 per cent from August 2015.
The average price for homes sold, regardless of type of property, was $710,400 -- with the average price for detached homes in the city of Toronto itself going up 18.3 per cent to $1.2 million.
Vancouver tax could send buyers to Toronto
Some industry observers have voiced concerns that Vancouver's new 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers could send investors to Toronto, driving up prices in a market that is already scorching hot.
Sales in Vancouver dropped 26 per cent in August compared to a year ago, following the introduction of the tax on Aug. 2.
Prices in Vancouver continued to rise, however, with the benchmark price for all residential properties climbing 31.4 per cent from a year ago to $933,100.
